Investment Objective/Strategy -The First Trust Capital Strength ETF seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the fund's fees and expenses) of an equity index called The Capital Strength Index™

There can be no assurance that the Fund's investment objectives will be achieved.

From the stocks in the NASDAQ US Benchmark Index, the largest 500 companies with a minimum three-month average daily dollar trading volume of $5 million are selected.

To be eligible for inclusion in the index, companies must have:

at least $1 billion in cash or short term investments.

a long term debt to market cap ratio less than 30%.

a return on equity greater than 15%.

Eligible companies are then ranked by a combined short-term (3-month) and long-term (1-year) realized volatility.

The 50 companies with the lowest combined volatility score are selected for inclusion in the index.

A maximum weight of 30% in any one Industry Classification Benchmark industry is allowed. If an industry has a weight greater than 30%, the highest ranking security by volatility will be removed and replaced with the next eligible security from a different industry. This process is repeated until no industry has a weight greater than 30%.

The index stocks are equally weighted initially and on each rebalancing effective date. The index is reconstituted and rebalanced on a quarterly basis.

Fund Overview

Ticker

FTCS

Fund Type

Large Cap Core

Investment Advisor

First Trust Advisors L.P.

Investor Servicing Agent

Bank of New York Mellon

CUSIP

33733E104

ISIN

US33733E1047

Intraday NAV

FTCSIV

Fiscal Year-End

12/31

Exchange

Nasdaq

Inception

7/6/2006

Inception Price

$20.00

Inception NAV

$20.00

Rebalance Frequency

Quarterly

Gross Expense Ratio*

0.64%

Net Expense Ratio*

0.64%

* As of 5/1/2017

Expenses are capped contractually at 0.65% per year, at least until April 30, 2018.

The price used to calculate market return is determined by using the midpoint between the highest bid and the lowest offer on the stock exchange, on which shares of the Fund are listed for trading, as of the time that the Fund's NAV is calculated.

Top Sector Exposure (as of 2/20/2018)

Industrials

30.75%

Financials

18.13%

Health Care

17.72%

Technology

16.02%

Consumer Goods

9.55%

Consumer Services

5.81%

Basic Materials

2.02%

Month End Performance (as of 1/31/2018)

3 Mos

YTD

1 Year

3 Year

5 Year

10 Year

SinceFundInception10

Fund Performance *

Net Asset Value (NAV)

9.66%

5.06%

30.24%

14.60%

16.27%

10.76%

10.56%

After Tax Held

9.51%

5.06%

29.53%

13.90%

15.49%

10.05%

9.91%

After Tax Sold

5.71%

3.00%

17.81%

11.06%

12.70%

8.47%

8.43%

Market Price

9.71%

4.84%

30.19%

14.58%

16.24%

10.79%

10.56%

Index Performance **

The Capital Strength Index™

9.84%

5.13%

31.06%

15.34%

N/A

N/A

N/A

S&P 500 Value Index

9.48%

4.15%

19.35%

12.65%

13.73%

7.62%

7.53%

S&P 500 Index

10.18%

5.73%

26.41%

14.66%

15.91%

9.78%

9.41%

Quarter End Performance (as of 12/29/2017)

3 Mos

YTD

1 Year

3 Year

5 Year

10 Year

SinceFundInception10

Fund Performance *

Net Asset Value (NAV)

7.95%

26.49%

26.49%

11.76%

16.98%

9.56%

10.17%

After Tax Held

7.80%

25.80%

25.80%

11.08%

16.18%

8.86%

9.52%

After Tax Sold

4.50%

14.96%

14.96%

8.81%

13.30%

7.43%

8.08%

Market Price

8.16%

26.67%

26.67%

11.78%

17.03%

9.53%

10.19%

Index Performance **

The Capital Strength Index™

8.13%

27.28%

27.28%

12.49%

N/A

N/A

N/A

S&P 500 Value Index

6.33%

15.36%

15.36%

9.47%

14.24%

6.80%

7.21%

S&P 500 Index

6.64%

21.83%

21.83%

11.41%

15.79%

8.50%

8.96%

3-Year Statistics (as of 1/31/2018)

Standard Deviation

Alpha

Beta

Sharpe Ratio

Correlation

FTCS

9.54%

1.50

0.88

1.44

0.94

S&P 500 Value Index

10.16%

-0.99

0.94

1.19

0.94

S&P 500 Index

10.15%

---

1.00

1.37

1.00

Standard Deviation is a measure of price variability (risk). Alpha is an indication of how much an investment outperforms or underperforms
on a risk-adjusted basis relative to its benchmark.Beta is a measure of price variability relative to the market. Sharpe Ratio is a measure
of excess reward per unit of volatility. Correlation is a measure of the similarity of performance.

*Performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future
results and current performance may be higher or lower than performance quoted. Investment returns
and principal value will fluctuate and shares when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than
their original cost.

After Tax Held returns represent return after taxes on distributions. Assumes shares have not been sold.
After Tax Sold returns represent the return after taxes on distributions and the sale of fund shares. Returns
do not represent the returns you would receive if you traded shares at other times. Market Price returns are
based on the midpoint of the bid/ask spread on the stock exchange on which shares of the fund are listed for
trading as of the time that the fund’s NAV is calculated. Returns are average annualized total returns, except
those for periods of less than one year, which are cumulative. The fund's performance reflects fee waivers
and expense reimbursements, absent which performance would have been lower.

After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and
do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on the investor’s tax
situation and may differ from those shown. The after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold
their fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

**Performance information for The Capital Strength Index™ is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent actual fund performance.

Indexes do not charge management fees or brokerage expenses, and no such fees or expenses were deducted from the performance shown. Indexes are unmanaged and an investor cannot invest directly in an index.

On June 4, 2013, the fund's underlying index changed from the Credit Suisse U.S. Value Index,
Powered by HOLTTM to The Capital Strength IndexTM. On June 18, 2010,
the fund's underlying index changed from the Deutsche Bank CROCI® US+ IndexTM
to the Credit Suisse U.S. Value Index, Powered by HOLTTM. Therefore,
the fund's performance and historical returns shown for the periods prior to these dates
are not necessarily indicative of the performance that the fund, based on its current index,
would have generated.

The fund no longer uses the S&P 500 Value Index as a comparative index for the fund as the Advisor has determined that this index is no longer representative of the fund's investment strategy and portfolio holdings. The S&P 500 Value Index will be represented in performance comparisons of the fund until May 1, 2018.

The gross expense ratio for this fund is 0.64%. Expenses are capped contractually at 0.65% per year, at least until April 30, 2018.

Fund shares are purchased and sold on an exchange at their share price rather than net asset value (NAV), which may cause the shares to trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).

3

The Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.

4

Most recent distribution paid or declared to today's date. Subject to change in the future. There is no guarantee that the fund will declare dividends.

5

The 30-day SEC yield is calculated by dividing the net investment income per share earned during the most recent 30-day period by the maximum offering price per share on the last day of the period and includes the effects of fee waivers and expense reimbursements, if applicable.

6

The unsubsidized 30-day SEC yield is calculated the same as the 30-day SEC yield, however it excludes contractual fee waivers and expense reimbursements.

7

12-Month Distribution Rate is calculated by dividing the sum of the fund's trailing 12-month ordinary distributions paid or declared by the NAV price. Distribution rates may vary.

8

Index yield represents the weighted average trailing 12-month dividend of the constituents of The Capital Strength Index(TM).

9

All market capitalization numbers are in USD$ Millions.

10

Inception Date is 7/6/2006

You should consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully before investing. You can download a prospectus or summary prospectus, or contact First Trust Portfolios L.P. at 1-800-621-1675 to request a prospectus or summary prospectus which contains this and other information about the fund. The prospectus or summary prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

ETF Characteristics

The fund lists and principally trades its shares on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC.

The fund's return may not match the return of The Capital Strength Index™. Securities held by the fund will generally not be bought or sold in response to market fluctuations.

Investors buying or selling fund shares on the secondary market may incur customary brokerage commissions.
Market prices may differ to some degree from the net asset value of the shares. Investors who sell fund shares may receive less than the share's net
asset value. Shares may be sold throughout the day on the exchange through any brokerage account. However, unlike mutual funds, shares may only be
redeemed directly from the fund by authorized participants, in very large creation/redemption units. If the fund's authorized participants are unable
to proceed with creation/redemption orders and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, fund shares may trade at
a discount to the fund's net asset value and possibly face delisting.

Risk Considerations

The fund's shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the fund. One of the principal risks of investing in the fund is market risk. Market risk is the risk that a particular stock owned by the fund, fund shares or stocks in general may fall in value. There can be no assurance that the fund's investment objective will be achieved.

The fund may invest in securities issued by companies concentrated in a particular industry.

First Trust Advisors L.P. is the adviser to the fund. First Trust Advisors L.P. is an affiliate of First Trust Portfolios L.P., the fund's distributor.

The Capital Strength IndexTM is the trademark (the "Mark") of Nasdaq. The Mark is licensed for use by First Trust Portfolios L.P.
The fund has not been passed on by Nasdaq as to its legality or suitability. The fund is not issued, endorsed, sold or promoted by Nasdaq.
The fund should not be construed in any way as investment advice by Nasdaq. NASDAQ MAKES NO WARRANTIES AND BEARS NO LIABILITY WITH RESPECT
TO THE FUND OR THE CAPITAL STRENGTH INDEXTM.

The information presented is not intended to constitute an investment recommendation for, or advice to, any specific person. By providing this information, First Trust is not undertaking to give advice in any fiduciary capacity within the meaning of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. First Trust has no knowledge of and has not been provided any information regarding any investor. Financial advisors must determine whether particular investments are appropriate for their clients. First Trust believes the financial advisor is a fiduciary, is capable of evaluating investment risks independently and is responsible for exercising independent judgment with respect to its retirement plan clients.

First Trust Portfolios L.P. Member SIPC and FINRA.
First Trust Advisors L.P.